speedwagon

john b A little high for a beater but if you can justify a possible 50% loss in two years it could well be worth it for the experience, if not run. " I ain't never lost money on something I didn't buy".

my daily go to for the last 3 years is a 2007 Toyota highlander hybrid. Not simple and came with a climate control module that didn't control (an independent electronics shop in misery fixed it for less than $200. since then just oil, filters and tires. Complex is OK if it don't break . And the expectations of 300k are realistic. Front wheel, so not a lot of fun to drive, but it does get out and scoot quite well when asked. My daughter and I call it "perfectly adequate" mpg in the mid 20s. At 83 it could easily be my last. But I do have a 94 f150 that is in process of getting the 500hp ? "lightning Clone" ( and no ford is what I consider reliable especially post jaguar ownership. Current policy is for dealers to make their profit by repairing what the accountants masquerading as engineers give you "the service" (farmers definition). Bottom line is that I would buy another toyota/lexus hybrid, but of an older year where they still used the v6 engines rather than the overworked 4s with the more complex turbos. OR if it is absolute economy you want a Prius. john PS the Miata was hard on my back but the most fun for very small bucks.

I live in the desert AND have a heater and to be honest consider AC some days. Going fast is fun, doing it in comfort is living a dream.

As a person with size 13 feet that actually need a ee width, I don't do heel/toe even in my f150. But a bubble in the foot well is not that hard to construct. Fortunately my Superformance S1 accommodates my feet adequately. But if it didn't there would be a "dogleg" in my side bars. The customer is always right. And most of us are not "jockeys". john

All this from somewhere near Humbolt county.

ditto what he said

a total should sell for 30% of retail value (at best).

My 86 rx-7 was the most pleasant car to work on. Sold my Miata NA (cause it was hurting my back) and bought a Jag xj8, what an owners delight! sic. Like the Superformance and the Rotus based car. john

this is also true (but even more so because of the vast amount of electronics) in virtually all makes after the year 2000. we are buying autos comprised of an assembly of blocks just like the old Japanese transistor radios in the 60s, just much more expensive. we are not only not allowed to work on our cars- but we who know how cannot afford the time to do a postmortem and reverse engineer the parts in order to keep them still going. it actually started in the 60s. I have a 2007 highlander hybrid that is not that complex, and a full set of factory Toyota manuals (26 lbs of them) that show very little electrical documentation, but do instruct the mechanics how to remove the box and replace it at the cost of several hundred dollars, when the actual problem is a poorly designed multi conductor cable deep inside the "box or unit". We the people are getting hosed!!

like I said "run like hel" and don't look back. and don't forget that there has been a lot of flooding in the past year. and snow.

I think today it will get weighed, not as finished, but worth only 1/10th as much.

Never used professional equipment, and have never had the steering wheel centered after a so called professional aligned a car for me. So i have 2 4' long hollow steel shelves hanging on mu wall and a level/protractor. set caster by eye. I personally like a lot of caster (added 3 deg to my motor-home and ran 20+ deg in the off road car. And my steering wheel is always centered in the car and in the box or rack. I care others don't. john

There are many good reasons why "flood " cares are totaled and unless this is unusual the car would have to be striped down to the frame and the rust inside neutralized or a new frame built or purchased. An then every other part not hermetically sealed opened and washed. I just recently looked at a 2016 Silverado and ran home fast because it had been in Florida. I took a s-10 two years old to the beach in Mexico with me and started home with a truck that needed a new top panel because I had just primed it, and not painted it. And fresh water is almost as bad. john PS it is worth 1/2 of what you can buy a slightly abused equivalent.

Possibly heat distortion from dragging, either pad backing or caliper.

JB, I printed off your tuning guide. It made good sense to me and I shall profit from your experience. Got a wide-band when I first started messing with rotaries and discovered how easy it was to tune a carburetor with one! Still have some webers and dellortos and still hate them far to complicated especially the 48. But thanks a lot for the info. john Ironically my favorite for draw thru is a 2" SU.